Hawaii service canceled at Monterey Regional Airport

First-time air service between Monterey and Honolulu won't get off the ground.

Allegiant Air said Friday it was canceling planned weekly service on Fridays between Monterey Regional Airport and Honolulu before the inaugural Nov. 16 flight because of poor customer response.

"Unfortunately we didn't see the bookings we anticipated," said Jessica Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas-based airline. "We thought it would be a good route, and we had high hopes. Unfortunately the bookings were not there."

Announced in May, Allegiant's direct connection to Hawaii from Monterey would have been the first-ever from the Monterey airport. The cancellation stung airport officials.

"We are very disappointed Allegiant has made this unfortunate decision," airport manager Tom Greer said in a prepared statement.

"It was a surprise," said Hayes, who said he understood that bookings for the inaugural flight were almost full. He said he had heard bookings for service later in the year were in the 20-to-30 percent range.

Allegiant wouldn't disclose specifics about its bookings for the Monterey-Honolulu service. "Generally our business model is based on 90-percent capacity," Wheeler said.

The service was to use 223-seat, Boeing 757s.

The airport district was striving to spread the word about the Hawaii service with contests, radio and television spots and Hawaiian shirt days on Fridays, Hayes said.

"We have been working hard on promoting it," he said. "We don't know if (the cancellation) is premature."

Customers with reservations were scheduled to be receiving calls from Allegiant customer service personnel starting Friday to arrange for full refunds or to transfer to other company service. Allegiant flies to Honolulu from Fresno and Stockton, Wheeler said.

"It may take a couple of days to get to the bottom of the (reservation) list," she said.

Allegiant has offered service between Monterey and Las Vegas since 2008. That service will remain.